child of god, lover of sharon, father of 5, future farmer...oh, and i play a little guitar too.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

necessity breeds invention....invention breeds envy

when i was in high school, i worked at the local music store in my town. we sold guitars and drums. piano's and pa systems. i was sure i would be a rock star soon, so what better place to work than in a music store....right? of course!

i remember very clearly when nirvana first erupted on the music scene. if you are the same age as me, you probably remember too. you just couldn't get away from 'smells like teen spirit'. remember that? it was every where!

a few years later a 3-pack of punks released their own brand of angst to kids all over the world in the form green day's major label debut, 'dookie'

these two bands weren't really peddling music theory at it's most prestigious level. but through the blaring marshall amps and thunderous 4 piece drum kits...they connected with kids everywhere.

i remember hearing local musicians come through the music store during that time, complaining about the "over-night success" of these less then accomplished musicians. there was almost a simultaneous backlash of gravity happening as their star's of fame shot into the skies of pop culture. i never really understood why some people would get so angry about these kids becoming successful, doing what they loved.

for all their lack of musicianship. for every sloppy performance and grammatically incorrect lyric....there's one big thing that these ney-sayers were missing about these two bands. wanna know?

they both inspired a whole generation of kids to pick up a guitar and play music. they said it differently. they explained it in a new way....and now....millions of teenagers all over the world GOT IT!

i for one, think that is pretty rad!

so what's my point? my point is, whenever you try or even succeed at doing something new. innovating if you will....there will always be someone, somewhere that's going to try and rain on your parade. tell you that your new creation only moves the industry a few millimeters. expect it....but don't take much stock in it. stay focused on your purpose. the ney-sayers don't inovate anything but envy. word!